As provinces hit respective vaccine targets, the federal government announced a lift of quarantine restrictions starting from July 5th at 11:59PM Eastern Time. However, the abatement entails certain conditions. Currently, only fully vaccinated Canadian citizens and permanent residents are exempt from quarantine restrictions. Moreover, these individuals must receive their inoculations 14 days prior to arriving Canada.

Other than the new measures, other requirements remain the same for travellers. First of all, travellers must submit COVID-19 precautionary information via ArriveCAN app before arrival. Secondly, their pre- and on-arrival PCR tests must manifest as negative. Additionally, they need to provide a quarantine plan. According to a government media statement, the final discretion is up to border officials, which indicates that the absence of any document mentioned above may result in an entry or quarantine exemption denial.

Exempted travellers no longer need to stay at a government-authorized hotel. Simultaneously, non-vaccinated children or dependent adults travelling along will also enjoy the exemption. Nevertheless, these children must quarantine for 14 days at home, as addresses by public safety officials. As for travellers who are not fully vaccinated, all previous travel measures still apply, including hotel and home quarantine restrictions.

Non-Essential Traveling

The lift of mandatory quarantine spurs high hopes for a complete restriction removal. However, the Canada-U.S. border still postponed its reopening until July 21.

In regards to non-essential travelling, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair stated the following: “At this time, the Government of Canada continues to strongly advise Canadians to avoid non-essential travel.” Canada’s caution is rather comprehensible. Although vaccination records are climbing and daily cases are declining, there still exists a probable chance of another COVID-19 wave.

The speech by Canadian Health Minister Patty Hajdu indicates the country’s tentative steps on travel restrictions. The delivery of loosened travel measures will depend on vaccine rates from provinces, as she says.

As of June 21, Canada’s vaccination data are as follows:

A complete abolition of current travel restrictions required 75% of the population being fully vaccinated. Given current data, Canada accomplished a quarter of its objective. Considering the vaccine rollout speed, a border reopening may happen as early as the end of this year.

While eagerly hoping for an economic and quotidian revitalization, we, Thomas Wang & Associates (TWA), firmly support the federal government’s COVID-19 precautionary policies. Meanwhile, we are proactively seeking what service we can offer to our community. Other than our specialization in skills and business immigration, we also obtain excellency in refugee, asylum, and humanitarian and compassionate grounds appeals. Together with our people, we await the comeback of life before the pandemic in an impeding future.